Historical Events on May 27

  • 1813: On this day during the War of 1812, American forces capture Fort George in Canada.
  • 1863: At the Siege of Port Hudson during the American Civil War, Union forces assault the Confederate works for the first time.
  • 1896: A F4 tornado hits St. Louis and East St. Louis on this day. It caused $12 million dollars USD in damage and killed over 250 people.
  • 1907: In the city of San Francisco in California, Bubonic plague begins to break out.
  • 1927: Ford Motor Company stops making Model T Cars and starts to retool their factories to start manufacturing the Ford Model A.
  • 1930: The Chrysler Building in New York City opens. At 1,046 feet, it’s the tallest man made structure of the time.
  • 1933: The United States Federal Securities Act becomes law.
  • 1933: The 3 Little Pigs cartoon is released by Walt Disney. The song: “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” will become a hit sensation.
  • 1940: After surrendering to German forces, 99 Royal Norfolk soldiers are shot at the Le Paradis Massacre during World War 2.
  • 1941: Over twenty-one hundred men die when the German Battleship Bismark is attacked and sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1941: “An Unlimited National Emergency” is declared by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • 1942: Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded during Operation Anthropoid of World War 2. He will die from his injuries 8-days later.

Famous Birthdays on May 27

  • American drover, scout, spy, lawman and showman, Wild Bill Hickok is born in 1837.
  • French painter and illustrator, Georges Rouault is born in 1871.
  • American painter Jessie Arms Botke is born in 1883.
  • American actor Vincent Price is born in 1911.
  • American novelist John Cheever is born in 1912.
  • English actor Christopher Lee is born in 1922.
  • German-American political scientist and Nobel Prize laureate, Henry Kissinger is born in 1923.